SanDisk and Targa Equip U.S. Military Helicopters, Jet Fighters and Bombers With Flash Memory Cards.Business Editors/High Tech Writers SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 2001 Rugged Cards Store Critical Mission Data Flash Replaces Other Storage Technologies In Military Applications SanDisk Corporation (Nasdaq:SNDK) and Targa Electronics Systems, Inc., announced today that Targa storage systems equipped with SanDisk flash memory cards are being used on a growing number of U.S. military helicopters Military helicopters are helicopters used by military forces. They can be found in a variety of roles in diffferent militaries of which the tactical airlift mission is the most common. , jet fighter Jet fighter may refer to:
NATO in full North Atlantic Treaty Organization International military alliance created to defend western Europe against a possible Soviet invasion. AWACS AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) Mobile, long-range radar surveillance-and-control centre for air defense. Used by the U.S. Air Force since 1977, AWACS is mounted in a specially modified Boeing 707 aircraft, with its main radar antenna affixed to a rotating dome. , C-5 Galaxy The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a military transport aircraft designed to provide strategic heavy airlift over intercontinental distances. It is the largest American military transport and one of the largest military aircraft in the world, designed to carry outsize and oversize cargo. , F-15 and F-16 now fly with the storage systems and flash cards. SanDisk has been supplying Targa, a leader in providing ruggedized data storage solutions to the military and aerospace markets, with standard, industrial grade Type II flash memory PC cards for many years and more recently started shipping smaller-sized SanDisk industrial CompactFlash(TM) (CF(TM)) cards to Targa. Removable SanDisk PC cards primarily are integrated into Targa Data Transfer Units (about the size of a video cassette video cassette Noun a cassette containing video tape video cassette n → videocassette f video cassette n → ) that are installed in the cockpits of the aircraft. Joseph Fronsee, Targa's vice president of sales and marketing, said, "SanDisk's solid-state (no moving parts Moving parts are the components of a device that undergo continuous or frequent motion, most commonly rotation. "Parts" only include the mechanical components which does not include fuel, or any other gas or liquid. ) flash cards are exactly what we need for these harsh and rugged applications where our storage systems store mission data, boot-up programs, area maps, video imagery and other data that is classified. We use only SanDisk industrial grade flash cards so we can meet the temperature requirements of these systems." He added, "These SanDisk cards are small and compact enough to fit into our systems. And they are very advantageous because they have an industrial standard interconnect. You can take out the cards and plug them into virtually any ground station or laptop and analyze the data on the card. Before flash cards were installed, we mainly used large, cumbersome cartridges with CMOS RAM See CMOS memory and BIOS setup. technology with battery backup See UPS. . Flash cards are a much better way to go. Because the cost of flash has come down so much, it also has enabled new applications such as the HUMS (health and usage monitoring systems) now used frequently on helicopters." Those monitoring products essentially are maintenance prediction systems that record the wear and tear taking place on the aircraft. They are equipped with advanced software, temperature, vibration and strain sensors and SanDisk PC flash cards with capacities up to 256 megabytes that capture and store all the data being collected. The CF cards are employed in a Targa data cartridge (1) A cartridge used to hold computer data. See cartridge. (2) (Data Cartridge) A 5.25" QIC-style magnetic tape technology that originally used the DC-6000 model designation. Tandberg Data (www.tandberg. product used in air combat training flights. The cartridges are housed in a pod under the wing where they collect flight data that is later downloaded via the removable cartridge removable cartridge n. A hard disk that has a self-contained casing, can be removed from the drive, and has greater storage capacity than floppy disks. and analyzed. SanDisk PC cards also fly on the B-2 bomber where they replaced optical disks. Fronsee said that "the disks were not nearly as tolerant to heat, cold and vibration as are the flash cards." Mitch Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. , SanDisk's vice president for industrial products, said, "Our industrial grade flash cards meet very rigorous standards for ruggedness, reliability and operation in extreme temperatures. Targa is a valuable ally for SanDisk because they have been involved in important military and aerospace programs since 1981. We are delighted that they selected SanDisk as the exclusive supplier of their flash cards." David Saunders, Targa's vice president of engineering and program management, said, "Over the years, we have selected a few flash cards from other companies and compared them with SanDisk cards. We were able to destroy the other cards with a little testing but the SanDisk cards continued to work. One of our customers subjected the SanDisk cards to the most rigorous temperature and vibration stress that its testing equipment would generate including taking it down to -70 Celsius and up to +120 Celsius. They were unable to break the SanDisk cards, and they passed all the tests." He also noted that "in our business, we carefully assess the lifetime cost of ownership. You can try to get the lowest priced flash card to save a few dollars and end up spending thousands of dollars with product failures and recalls. SanDisk is the best of the breed in the quality of its products, yet it is competitively priced." Targa, headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is a world leader in providing solid-state data storage solutions for military and aerospace applications. SanDisk, the world's largest supplier of flash data storage products, designs, manufactures and markets industry-standard, solid-state data, digital imaging and audio storage products using its patented, high density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk is based in Sunnyvale, CA. The matters discussed in this news release contain forward looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties as described under the caption, "Factors That May Affect Future Results" in the company's annual report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. , filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The companies assume no obligation to update the information in this release. Targa's web site/home page address: www.targaelectronics.com SanDisk's web site/home page address: http://www.sandisk.com Note to Editors: All trade names are either registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders. |
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